Network Management

Observability events display future timestamps in dashboard widget

In SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted, the Top 100 Recent Node Events (or similar Events) widget on a modern dashboard can show event times several hours in the future relative to the system clock and the Events view.

First published date

4/21/2026 12:04 AM

Last published date

4/21/2026 3:25 PM

Overview

This behavior occurs when the widget’s custom SWQL model uses the raw EventTime field (UTC) instead of converting it to the viewer’s local time with the ToLocal() SWQL function.

One or more of the following is observed:

  • On a modern dashboard (for example, Home Summary – Events or a custom NOC page), the Top 100 Recent Node Events or similar Events widget shows times ahead of:

    • The Events page,

    • Message Center, and

    • The server’s system clock.

  • The offset typically matches the difference between UTC and the user’s local time (for example, events appear 4–6 hours in the future).

  • The issue is limited to the dashboard widget; other views (Events, alerts, etc.) show the correct local time.

Product section

Network Performance Monitor

Cause

Events are stored and exposed in SWQL with timestamps in UTC. When a modern dashboard widget’s SWQL query selects EventTime directly (for example, e.EventTime AS EventTime), the widget renders the raw UTC value instead of the local time.

The ToLocal() SWQL function converts a UTC datetime value to the local time of the running application or browser executing the query (for example, SWQL Studio or the Web Console browser session).

If the widget’s model does not wrap EventTime in ToLocal(), the displayed time appears shifted into the future relative to the user’s local timezone.

Resolution

  1. Go to Settings → Manage Dashboards.
  2. Search for the dashboard that contains this widget (for example “Home Summary – Events” or your custom NOC page) and open it.
  3. Click the pencil icon (Edit dashboard) in the top-right.
  4. On the “Top 100 Recent Node Events” widget, click its pencil icon (Edit widget).
  5. In the right pane, unlink the widget (so you can customize it locally).
  6. Expand the Data Model section.
  7. Click the pencil next to “Hand-edit a SWQL query” (or similar).
  8. In the query, locate the `EventTime` column (typically `e.EventTime`) and change it to: 
    TOLOCAL(e.EventTime) AS EventTime
  9. Click Validate Query to ensure it is valid.
  10. Click Save model, confirm the Time column now shows the expected local time, then Save changes on the widget and dashboard.

This forces the widget to render event timestamps in the local time zone, bringing it in line with Events, Message Center, and the system clock.